The Hindu Business Line : <I>Monster-in-law: </I>As clichéd as it gets

TEN years ago the good thing about going to the movies was that you could choose; if you didn't like the mushy family settings and knotty human relationships of Indian films, you had Hollywood. It gave you a clear alternative.

But, possibly due to the new global market place, the gap is closing fast. There is little difference in the plots and characters showcased by these two centres of movie making that you now have nowhere to run to for some peaceful, engaging entertainment.

Monster-in-Law is proof for this drift, right from the clichéd first frame of Jennifer Lopez as Charlotte Cantilini, a simple, lovable girl.

And if her clichéd personality isn't proof enough, sample what Dr Kevin Fields (Michael Vartan) tells a dreamy eyed Charlotte when they meet on a typical American beach and she wants to gauge how much he has observed her. "At first glance your eyes are brown. But when the light hits them, they change to amber. And if you look really close around the iris, the colour is pure honey. But when you look into the sun, they almost look green. That's my favourite."

Makes you feel like running out of the theatre, try out the corny line with the first woman you meet and strike a wager about your fate — would it be a date or an orthopaedics ward? Well, perhaps the US has changed or may be we changed them. There is likely money too in this change; for notwithstanding Kevin's artistic description of Charlotte's eyes, Monster-in-Law has already grossed over $100 million worldwide.

Possibly that is explanation too for Jane Fonda - the last Hollywood film she starred in was the beautiful Stanley & Iris (1990) with Robert De Niro — surfacing as Viola Fields, Kevin's possessive mother. Or for that matter the well heeled, Gucci-buying, jet-setting families increasingly showing up as protagonists in films here and there. Courtesy, the market these global Joneses and their situation dramas appear the stuff of celluloid money.

Whatever, the story in a nutshell: Kevin falls in love with Charlotte and proposes marriage around the same time as Viola, a much married and successful career woman, is fired from her job as anchor at a news channel. Son and wife-to-be want to begin a new life; mom wants one too; expects that it is with her son. Naturally, the two women clash. The rest is a film.

Watch it with few or no prejudices; who knows you may like Monster-in-Law. Jennifer Lopez is well, Jennifer Lopez, more a brand than an actor. Jane Fonda as Viola, who makes a difference, leaves you wondering why an actor of her calibre settled for comedy that sometimes borders the caricatured. A trifle memorable is Wanda Sykes as Ruby, Viola's secretary.

The film releases here on October 14.

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Monster-in-law: As clichéd as it gets

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